In 1st year I attended them all. Second year much less so and by 3rd year I was attending the minimum amount in order not to be dragged before a progress panel.
Personally, I went to uni to learn more about a subject that fascinated me but found myself just studying for exams and having no time to learn for the sake of learning. I felt very pressured to learn quickly and get 60%+. I favored passing my exams and coursework and getting a 2.1 over absorbing the content of each and every lecture (in reality, that's impossible). In 2nd/3rd year I chose carefully which lectures/seminars to attend based on how much I judged them to be beneficial to me. Most of them were accessible online and it was quicker to skim read online notes and glean only the most important info from them than to sit through an hour lecture plus travel time there and back. I could get more done in an hour at my desk in the library than in the hour in most lectures.
I got my 2.1 and wouldn't have done it any differently, however, for my next degree I'll be attending every lecture/seminar because I actually want to learn and not just pass the exams. I lost interest in my first degree and I was just doing it for the piece of paper. I'm actually interested in my 2nd degree and want a career from it and I'd like to be knowledgeable at work since I'll be treating patients.
So yeah, for me it was a totally practical thing - I was just cutting the fat off the meat and skipping straight to the most useful stuff and ignoring everything else. Worked for me.
Yeah but you got a 2:1 (Which is still pretty good), but you might have been able to get a 1st otherwise, no?
Yeah but you got a 2:1 (Which is still pretty good), but you might have been able to get a 1st otherwise, no?
A 1st in Philosophy would have been just as useless to me as a 2.1 so I didn't think it necessary to exert myself. All I was interested in was getting a respectable final grade and I walked away with just that.
A 1st in Philosophy would have been just as useless to me as a 2.1 so I didn't think it necessary to exert myself. All I was interested in was getting a respectable final grade and I walked away with just that.
I selected 'some'. I made the effort to go when there was a particularly good lecturer, but if someone was unclear or otherwise unexceptional then I always preferred to get an extra hour of sleep and then just get stuck into the reading.
I think they can be a hopeful overview and guide, but they're just that. Missing some lectures shouldn't be a big issue because you should be reading through all the stuff covered anyway.
I try to attend everything. But at the same time if I have something important to attend or if im ill its not the end of the world if I miss one or two.
I skip more than I attend if I'm honest. Most of the ones I do attend are pointless anyway, usually the time could be better spend actually doing work directly relating to the coursework (as that's all they care about). Whereas quite a lot of the stuff they teach in the lectures doesn't end up being relevant.
The only time I've skipped a lecture is if it's something like a problem class for the homework and I feel like I already understand the homework. Otherwise I generally go. Gives me a reason to get out of bed - otherwise I'd probably just be in bed all day contemplating when I should get up to catch up on the lectures I was missing. I may as well just go the the lecture.
I tend not to go to lectures when it's just a lecturer literally reading word-for-word a PowerPoint presentation that's available online. It's pointless!